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A higher order lateral mode suppression scheme for Terahertz quantum cascade laser waveguides

The terahertz band is rapidly becoming used for applications in imaging and sensing; quantum cascade lasers are more promising for these applications as high power sources. However, as the deposition of thicker semiconductor layers is not feasible, plasmonic confinement is exploited in the vertical direction and wider dielectric confinement is used in the horizontal direction to have a lower threshold power. However, this causes a small differential gain between various higher order lateral modes. This paper reports a novel approach, showing how etched and slot electrodes can be used to enhance differential thresholds and reduce mode instabilities